Deserted
by The Midday Moon
Summary: Ben Solo is the oldest padawan in his Uncle Luke's growing Jedi academy. When Ben joins his uncle on a strange mission to an even stranger desert planet, he'll discover an unnatural force hidden beneath the sands.
1. Chapter 1

Desolate. Deserted. Decrepit. Dead. The words rolled in one after another as Ben Solo stepped off the small merchant freighter with his uncle.

"Are you sure this is the place, Uncle?"

The older man was already beginning to walk far ahead, doubtless of his own steps. He pulled up the hood of his rough spun cloak and looked back.

"What do you feel Ben? Do you feel as if this is just another forsaken planet or do you feel that we have been justly called to this place? If the former, you may stay here with Kivron and the ship; I'll force you to do nothing. It might perhaps even be for the better that you stay, so that we can secure our flight back to Gandor."

Ben sighed. He and his uncle had only been living with each other for three short years, and his uncle already knew how to play him like a stack of cards. Granted, a great deal of his insight was largely owed to the Force and the mentor-padawan relationship they had within it; however, Uncle Luke had a natural talent for being able to read people. In their early time together, they didn't talk much simply because Luke understood that Ben didn't want to speak more than was necessary in their circumstance, and as he had said so many times before, he would not force him into anything. So for years ,the pair had coexisted, building their relationship out of an awkward understanding of each other, falling into the roles that had been suddenly dictated to them, and carefully trying to pull the other to his understanding.

The older man stood in the broad heat of the desert waiting for his nephew's decision.

"I will go with you, Uncle"

His uncle smiled, eyes gleaming with another usual victory.

"Good, come along then. We have work to be done and such little time to do it in, especially if we want to be gone by nightfall."

Ben resisted another sigh growing up in his lungs. Instead , he threw up the hood of his own robe, tucked the opening firmly under his arms to protect against the raging, volatile winds of the desert, and stepped out into the sun.

The wind was stronger than Ben had expected. Even with his dark eyes planted firmly on the ground before him, sand still managed to blast into every crevice of his face, leaving him nearly breathless. He could hardly even seen where he was going, and was only reassured by the identical hunched form of his uncle mere steps ahead of him. He thought their brutal trek would never end until finally he heard his uncle yell, " Up ahead. We'll rest there."

Up ahead turned out to be a little hovel half hidden in the ground. Still hunched, Uncle Luke, pounded on a small door From the outside, you would not have expected a cavernous den littered with dust bitten travelers, and regular bar goers alike, but sure enough when the door opened, that is what they saw, that and the short Rodian who seemed to be the guard of the place. Slightly put off by his presence, Ben quickly averted his eyes.

Uncle Luke was already making himself at home at the long, wrap-around, stone bar. Ben had followed him closely, but now looked at the stool next to his teacher with disdain.

Luke made his order with the old haggard looking barmaid, before he to turned to notice his nephew's reluctance.

He laughed a little. "Well go ahead, sit down, it's just dirt."

Ben stood still and whispered sharply "You didn't bring me half way across the galaxy just to buy me a drink did you?!"

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Of course not, I brought you here to escape that storm outside, gain valuable insight into the potentially dangerous province we are about to enter in, _and_ to buy you a drink. I also thought you would have enjoyed some time apart from the others, but perhaps I was wrong."

Begrudgingly, Ben sat, caving into the passive aggressive force that was his uncle.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Luke did not look at him. "It's quite alright. I myself was impatient at that age. I'm sure my Uncle could have told you quite a few tales of my own stubbornness. Youth is blinding, remember that Ben."

"Yes, Uncle," he barely whispered.

After their drinks arrived, the pair sat in silence, listening to the soft mumblings of all the other conversations around them. Enough time passed, that Ben began to think that he would be condemned to sit here and drink his odd, bitter concoction for the remainder of the trip. He barely could conceal his coughs between forced sips. The more he drank, the more he thought he saw his uncle's lip shift into a smirk, and the more he became frustrated.

Ben was almost ready to snap again at his amused uncle when the bar lady returned.

"Can I get you anything else?"

"No, no, that will be all thank you," Luke said dismissing her with a slight wave of his hand, the metal in his prosthetic gleaming in the dim light.

"There is perhaps one thing," he said as she began to walk away. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find a woman that goes by the name Alesandre, would you?

The gray skinned lady turned back to them almost rigidly. She sat her bottle down, and leaned against the counter. " I might, but what kind of business does a stranger like you want with a slave like her?"

"Old friends," Luke said almost immediately. His hand started to gleam again, a copper coin danced across his knuckles and vanished. "I've come for a reunion of sorts."

The old lady narrowed her dim ,nearly milky eyes at the Jedi master, then turned to his padawan, looking at the pair with clear suspicion.

"Fine," she said curtly after brief hesitation. "Alesandre lives in slave quadrant A4. It's about 5 km north from here, on the edge of town."

"Is that all you can tell us?" The coin started to dance again between the master's fingers.

The bar maid's filmy eyes flashed to the movement. She swallowed. "Her master is Averion. He marks his slaves with a bright violet dye on their left arm. You can't miss 'em. When you get to the slave quarters, look for the violet and you should find her."

Luke rose from his seat with a smile. "Thank you. You've been very helpful to us, but I'm afraid we must take our leave now."

"Wait!" The woman cried, as the duo began to turn away from the bar, her coin still not earned. "There is one more thing you should know. Alesandre takes time about with some of the other women, working a stall in the market. Though I doubt she would be there today, due to some strange events of these last few days, it would be best if you tread lightly through the place. Averion is a quiet man, but he won't tolerate anyone messing with his business, and frankly Thavia isn't know for it's hospitality."

Uncle Luke nodded slightly, his smile wiped away by the firm line of his lips. "Thank you, we'll keep that in mind. Come along, Ben."

Ben started to follow his uncle again, but not without noticing the slight flick of his thumb. He turned back to see the barmaid holding the copper in her knobby hands, examining it with a look of near bewilderment.

As they stepped back out of the drinking hole, past the vigilant doorkeeper, Ben asked in a low voice. " Why did you not just use the Force Uncle?"

The sun struck clear against the older man's face. The storm had subsided, yet the elder's smile had returned.

" For some beings it is not necessary to use such extensive measures such as the Force. Simpler, more material things, are far more persuasive. Besides, in a place like this, we're bound to stand out from the locals anyway; I would like to draw as little attention as possible."

Ben didn't have much time to consider these things, for his uncle was already throwing up the hood of his robe again, heading in the direction their informer had mentioned.

"Now, we best start moving again. The storm took more time than I expected. Kivron, may be a solid fellow, but I don't think he would have him any qualms about leaving us out here for another week. We best hurry while we can."

Ben made no reply, for he knew whatever his teacher had in mind, it could not be redirected. Instead he followed suit, and began to follow him once more.

Thavia was just as the woman had described it: inhospitable. From the clusters of rough inhabitants that made it a point to stare at the unfamiliar men, to the torrid desert landscape speckled with all kinds of oddly shaped stone buildings, the place was simply brutal.

Ben walked along, taking it all in while returning the stares of passerby and resuming his original list of assumptions: dead, forsaken, cursed, godless, the list went on and on. Luke, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind as much. He walked seemingly unaware of their onlookers and infernal environment. Perhaps it was because he himself had grown up in a similar environment, or so he had claimed before, but Ben thought it was largely due to his master's natural patient predisposition. Throughout everything Luke seemed to hold an iron gentle tolerance towards all creatures. Even in especially trying times on the the island, while training the other children, when Ben was ready to explode with intolerable rage, Uncle Luke would still be standing tall and steady over them, ready to calmly take care of the situation at hand. In ways like this, Luke amazed his nephew.

After walking a little further, the pair came to a differently constructed part of town. Tents of varying sizes were strewn up by skinny pieces of wood, creating a large canopy of shade, under which large boxes, slashed with color differentiated the merchants and their wares. Considering the old woman's advice, Luke called back to his nephew, "Keep your eyes open for the violet."

It did not take not much searching though to find the violet streaked crates. The makeshift merchant stand was close to the edge of the canopy. A long, dark haired woman stood in the middle of a carefully placed collection of jewels. Under the the thick, cotton cloth which the finery rested, a bright light purple streak was painted on the dark wood. When the dark haired woman turned back from the humorous conversation she was having with one of her fellow merchants, a similar violet mark could be seen on the top of her left arm.

"May I help you gentlemen?" She asked us with a smile, finally noticing her visitors.

"Yes," Luke spoke up, "We're looking for Alesandre. Is she here today?"

The lady's smile fell instantly, her face now contorted into a look of horrible shock.

"She's not here today. What do you want?" Her voice had turned to glass.

Ben felt an overwhelming sense of fear in her. For whatever reason he did not know, but it sparked a billion questions in him. Whoever Alesandre was, she must have been of some importance according to the reactions they had gotten from both the barmaid, and now this woman.

"We mean her no harm," Luke said softly, obviously feeling her fear as well. "We're just a couple of family friends wishing to pay a visit."

The woman looked at the strangers hard and well ,her whole body frozen in her analysis. Besides the noise from the other vendors, there was an uncomfortable ,almost eerie silence that surrounded them. Finally she breathed.

"She's not here. She should be in her quarters , in Averion's unit. Her door has flowers painted on it. She'll be there... if you're lucky."

The last part was mumbled, but Ben clearly heard it.

"Thank you," Luke nodded. " Sorry for bothering you. We'll be on our way now."

The dark haired woman made no reply, but simply stared after them as they walked out of the shade of marketplace.

"What was she afraid of?" Ben asked, when he and Luke were well away from the woman.

"Her master. She's afraid her master sent us to take Alesandre."

"Like bounty hunters?"

"No, more like slave traders."

"But why would he want to sell one of his own slaves? Slavery is nearly extinct ;any current slaves would be invaluable, and difficult to replace."

"They would be," Luke confirmed, "but she's done something to change his mind."

"But what ,Uncle?"

"That we'll have to ask her ourselves."

It did not take long to reach the squat, huddled, clay buildings that could have only been the slave complex. The buildings were separated into four units per building: two doors in the front and two doors in the back. Between each building there was a small alley way of sorts, and as they passed, Ben noticed children of all ages in tattered clothing, with colorful arms playing in the shade the alleys offered.

Alesandre's unit was close to the edge of the complex. In between her door, which was in fact marked with fluffy, pink, childish renditions of flowers, and the door of her neighbor's, there was a long splattered line of bright violet that marked the place to have belonged to the infamous slave master Averion.

Luke wasted no time in stepping up to the doorway, and wracking his knuckles against one of the faded pink flowers. There was a long silence. Ben was starting to think their venture would turn out as silent as the woman in the marketplace, when they heard the rattling of a lock, and slowly a crack in the door opened.

Deep hazel eyes peered out at them. "Can I help you, sir?" A woman's voice asked quietly. Her words quivered. Ben felt the dark anxious creeping of fear again. This time much more strongly.

"Are you Alesandre?" Luke asked in a calm low voice.

" Yes. What is it you want?" The fear became heavier.

"My name is Luke Skywalker. This is my nephew Ben," Luke's prosthetic patted the tall, dark haired-boy beside him, "I was good friends with your father. I would like to discuss some things about him, if you would allow it."

The woman's breath seemed to hitch at the word father. The deep hazel eyes widened.

"What do you know about my father?"

"Plenty, and if you allow us to come in, I would be more than obliged to tell you a great deal of that information." Luke answered, continuing with same soothing tone.

The hazel eyes were still wide with terror as they dodged to look at something behind. They quickly returned.

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

She's hiding something Ben thought.

Luke stepped a little closer to the door.

"We won't hurt you, Alesandre." He said calmly and clearly as his hand drifted across the woman's eyes.

"You won't hurt me." She whispered.

"We only want to speak to you in peace."

"You only want to speak to me in peace."

"We will not take what you are hiding."

"You will not take what I am hiding." Alesandre breathed. Her voice getting lighter with each hand wave.

"You will let us in, because you have no reason to fear us."

"I will let you in because I have no reason to fear you."

With that, the door swung open to reveal a small woman standing in the entrance to an extremely modest living space. Alesandre was perhaps the height of an average woman, but the sheer size of her was considerably small. Everything around her seemed to heavy for her to bear. If a rare desert breeze would have came in, it would have likely knocked her down with its strength. Even her very own skin seemed to swallow her whole as it pulled tight across the planes of her cheeks, but was oddly sunken in the pits of her eyes, and the chocolate hair hanging limply across her forehead, only add to the effect.

Alesandre's eyes were much more calm now after undergoing the effects of Force mind-control. She stepped back against the open door, and gestured for them to come in. Luke and Ben had to bend their heads down again ,as they stepped over the short threshold into the slave's home.

The house seemed to only possess the one room in which they stood, and a small cut doorway, covered by stitched pieces of wood. A single bed was made out of the existing stone on the far wall, and was covered with dull colored rags, and two small, lumpy pillows for bedding. There was what seemed to be a kitchen towards the front of the room, with a stove, a couple of cabinets hanging over it, and the the small table on the opposite wall to which they were directed to sit.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Alesandre asked, prepared to be a more courteous host.

"No, no, that's quite alright. Like I mentioned before, we've only come to discuss some details about your father and what he left behind."

"I don't mean to rude sir, but he didn't leave much of anything behind. He left me and my mother when I was very young. I hardly knew the man."

A sort of uncomfortable looked passed over Uncle Luke's face. "That may be so, but he left much more behind than I think you are aware of."

"What do you mean?" Alesandre asked, her body stiffening as she clutched the chair in front of her. Ben felt the familiar tinge of fear in her, but there was something else that didn't seem to quite fit. It felt like something away from her.

"You see," Luke began "Your father was a part of a old order that was unlike any other..."

Ben began to fade out on the conversation, for he had heard the story Uncle Luke was about to tell, at least half a hundred times. He had told to him when had first come to train with him, and he had told it to the other padawans. On nights he deemed of special importance, or when the other children had begged for some form or story telling, Uncle Luke would again recite the same old story. So instead of listening once more, Ben began to look more into his surroundings.

Over the bed, dancing with the the slivers of desert light that managed to creep through the cracks in the door, was a string of broken glass. The glass held his attention for a moment as he watched it gently spin its reflections across the space. Then he moved on to notice something on the wall. In black, just above where the lumpy pillows had been placed, two stick people stood under a massive sun. Ben smiled at the ill-proportioned drawing, until he noticed something sitting on one of the pillows. A straw doll with a white face stared at Ben with a goofy smile. He thought back to the painted flowers on the door, and the odd feeling he had before

"Do you have a daughter?" Ben asked suddenly, cutting off his uncle's voice.

Their eyes snapped to him. A moment of silence, the elders had been caught of guard.

Alesandre finally swallowed, and nodded. "I do."

More silence, as she stared at him, weighing her options.

Her fingers released the chair she had been leaning on, and Alesandre turned her head toward the wood curtain.

"Honey... You can come out now."

The room was still. Silence had become the fashion of the day. Then finally, ever so slowly, the curtain began to rattle as a tiny hand moved through the beads, and stopped. Two dark eyes glowed from the shadow of the the closet, staring at the strange men. Ben felt that off feeling again. It wasn't quite fear, but something more akin to apprehension and perhaps... anger?

"Come here, darling." Alesandre held out her hand to the closet. "They won't hurt you, I promise."

Ben didn't think the girl would nudge, but sure enough, after cautiously tip-toeing out of the closet, she bolted across space between mother and child, and tackled the woman's legs. Alesandre let out an exhausted breath.

"Not so rough." She whispered to the shadow hiding behind her.

Alesandre looked back up. Matching, deep hazel eyes, under long brown mussy hair, peeped around the mother's knee's and stared back at Ben. "Luke, Ben, this is my daughter," Alesandre said, trying to pry the creature into view. "This is Rey."

 **A/N: *** Insert exhausted heavy breathing here* Wow, 3,000 words and we have even gotten to the good stuff yet! Can I just say this was a beast to write? A pleasant beast, with wings and sparkly rainbows and stuff, but a beast none the less. Shout out to my beautiful new found beta Sam, who has become my go to for all Star Wars questions, and who embraces all my Star Wars garbage with open arms. Bless you, my dear, bless you! I have never written Star Wars before, and I consider myself a relatively new member in the fandom, so if anything seems off, I would appreciate if you would let me know! Thank you so much reading, and I hope you all stay on this garbage ship for the ride ;)!

-Jess


	2. Chapter 2

Rey had tried to fight fiercely against her mother's hands, but Alesandre had turned out to be stronger than she appeared. With one quick tug, the child was turned to stand on the opposite side of Alesandre knees, and face the strangers before her. The little girl's lips soured as she stared at them.

"I'm sorry," Alesandre apologized "she's usually more friendly than this."

"It's quite alright." Luke said, bending his head to smile at the child. "She must have a good reason."

"We've had a rough few days," Alesandre said quietly, while her fingers brushed back the strays in her daughter's hair.

Ben carefully watched the two together. For a moment, he was reminded of his own mother, far away, in a completely different system, and how when he was young, she would constantly fuss over his thick dark hair, turning her fingers into a comb at any given moment. Slightly embarrassed by the thought, he quickly pushed the memory of finger combs and spit baths away. His mother had always been rather odd anyways.

Luke glanced at Ben, perhaps sensing where his nephew's thoughts had drifted. He said nothing though, but simply gave a slight smile before looking back to the girl.

"Rey," Luke said in a sweet, soothing tone, "What a pretty name you have. You must be a pretty girl too, to have such a lovely name. Why don't you come here where I can see you?" He held out his hand in invitation.

The child looked up to her mother for some sign of confirmation.

"Well go on," Alesandre said, knudging her gently with a knee, one of which the child still clung to.

Just as slowly as she had emerged from the doorway, Rey carefully walked to Uncle Luke's outstretched hand. When she had closed this distance, Ben could finally get a better look at her in the glow of the fading desert sun. As his uncle made his observations, Ben made his own.

The girl had seemed to inherit her mother's natural delicate constitute, for she wasn't exactly short or tiny for a child he thought to be about four years of age, but she had an overall air of frailness to her, as if a desert wind would pick her up and take her far away. She had long, fine, brown hair that matched the hue of her mother's,with tiny little braids hanging around her ears. When Rey looked up, Ben could see one more striking similarity she shared with her mother.

"What beautiful eyes you have," Luke said, lifting her chin. "I don't think they can decide whether they want to be brown or green. How old are you my dear?"

"She's about four I'd say." Ben interjected.

"I'm five," Rey snapped, whipping her head around to give the older boy a scowl. Suddenly, a fire had awoken in her.

"She just turned five about a month ago," Alesandre clarified. " She won't let you forget it though."

Luke laughed a little. " Well of course not, being alive for five years is very different than being alive for only four."

For the first time, Rey smiled back at Uncle Luke, seeming to ,at last ,find an ally in him.

Luke continued to smile at her, gently tucking a fallen hair behind her ear, until he noticed something odd. On her left temple, nearly camouflaged by the warmth of her skin tone and the cover of her hair, there was a deep purple bruise about the size of a fist.

Luke's face fell immediately. " What have we here?" He asked softly while tenderly probing the area with his fingers.

There was another sharp inhale. Ben looked up to see Alesandre struggling to keep a calm expression. Fear had entered the room again like a flood.

" The market is full of monsters..." She breathed, "monsters who think they have a right to deal justice wherever they seem fit."

Alesandre wiped at the corners of her eyes, and inhaled. "Rey can be curious to a fault and even too mischievous for her own good, but she knows the law. She knows that with me, she can get away with some things, but with this," she pulled at the sleeve of her tunic to show the bright violet mark of her bondage, "this is our lives. We can't escape these consequences. That's why I don't believe what they say happened in the marketplace."

"What exactly happened in the marketplace?" Luke asked, drawing his hand away from the child.

"I don't really know. The man-the monster- who caught her, said she was stealing from him, stealing from a pile of oranges he had stacked on his cart, a pile that would have been too tall for her to reach by herself. Others say it just came to her though, like it somehow dropped out of the sky, and into her hands. That's what she says is what happened. That she wanted it so badly that it just came to her, and this isn't even the first time she's done it."

Luke glanced over at Ben and they shared a knowing look. Countless times had they come to other desolate planets on the outer edges of the universe, to find children with the same peculiar stories. Granted, now, must of them were tucked away on yet another isolated planet, yet with much different fates, thanks to a certain old Jedi. Ben could already seen the plans unraveling in his uncle's mind as Luke gave him a slight nod and returned his attention to the woman

Alesandre sighed. "I don't know what to think anymore. When I had, found her, he had just hit her. If I had not come when I did , I'm afraid he probably would have done much worse. I'm much more afraid of Averion now though. It's been a few days, and he still hasn't said a word."

"You're afraid of the punishment when he finds out," Ben said, still feeling the tight anxiety around him.

Alesandre nodded. " He's a good master, but he must fulfill the law, and, the law is far from gentle."

"If you fear for the child, there may be something we can do." Luke said finally speaking up.

"You see, the order that your father was apart of possessed the same abilities, except they were much more powerful. I ,myself, share those same abilities, as does my nephew," again he drifted a hand in Ben's direction."If what you say about your daughter is true, then she too may possess the same power, and there might be a way out of all this."

"How?" Alesandre's voice was quiet again.

"I have a school for children like Rey. It's far away from here, but she would be safe." He continued on, watching the doubt wash over her face, "There is children of her age, she would not be alone, and she would be well taken are of ,not to mention, she would learn more than probably she ever could here."

A moment of silence. Alesandre looked away, considering what Uncle Luke had told her. Rey looked up with gleaming hazel eyes between the man and her mother, confused at their conversation.

"If you take her, will I ever get to see her again?" The mother asked, her voice still quiet, her eyes still turned away.

Now it was Luke's turn to sigh. "Not for a very long time." He admitted.

Alesandre absently nodded. "I see..."

Finally, her eyes returned to Luke. "I'll need to think about it."

"Of course," Luke agreed.  
"I might be able to speak to Averion, convince him to go easy on her. It may not be so horrible after all..." Her voice drifted off in a tone of desperation. "Besides, if you were to take her, there would be an ever bigger consequence for stealing a slave. I'm afraid you would never make it out of here without an army of bounty hunters on your tail."

"I'm sure we could handle it," Luke said seriously. "However, if you need the time to think about it, we would be obliged to give it to you."

He stood up. "We have to leave, now, but our ship should be back about this time next week. Do you think that would give you enough time to speak with your master?"

Alesandre nodded once more. "It should."

"Good, then for now, we bid you farewell."

Before Uncle Luke began to leave, he ruffled the child's already messy hair. " Try to stay out of trouble." He said giving her secret smile.

Rey smiled backed at him, not saying a word.

Luke turned to his nephew, "Come along Ben. We best catch a transport back to the ship, or else we'll be left behind for sure."

Ben nodded to the woman as farewell, while hardly glancing to child, even though she was staring daggers after him. Luke said their final goodbyes, and then with that, they left them.

"It's pointless Uncle," Ben said when they were back on ship. Kivron, thankfully, had not left without them, despite the sun drawing close on the horizon. After a bumpy lift off, the party was now traveling easily through space to another stop on the trader's route.

"That's the only family she has out there. She won't just hand her over. She'd probably rather die than give her up."

Uncle Luke sat across from him in thought. "I know, but we still have to try though. The girl is too powerful to be condemned to such a life. Surely you felt that much,Ben?"

Ben sighed rubbing his temples. Their little trek through the desert, and his recent nights of nightmare ridden sleep had left him exhausted and more moody than usual.  
"Of course I felt it, Uncle. The Force seems to be stronger in her, than most of the other children. I don't know why we have to pursue this though, if it will be for nothing. Alesandre won't let her go, and you know that."

Luke watched his nephew carefully, seeming to analyze the change in him. He was quiet for a while, and then finally answered. " We'll just have to see what her answer is by next week. We can 't let this go without trying," and then he let it go at that.

There was an awkward silence afterwards. Luke was still watching his nephew, trying to decipher an odd feeling that was coming through the Force. Ben felt his eyes analyzing his features over, and over again, and he quickly looked away.

"Ben, is everything alright?" Luke asked cautiously through the silence.

"Of course, Uncle. Why?"

Deep down, Ben knew that it was lie. He wasn't alright; he hadn't been for a while. The dreams had started somewhat innocently, and had only come to him when he had gotten particularly upset about something that day, but now they were occurring almost every other night, and with more gruesome content: screaming children, warm blood on cold marble, and fire, so much fire. When he wasn't dreaming about the images, he was thinking about them, and almost constantly. It felt as if a voice in the back of his mind, that was his, but not quite his, was always reminding him of those horrors. In the silence of his peaceful mediation, it would whisper a word to draw him back to the destruction of his dreams. The whole process had been going on for months, and the longer it went on, the harder it became to ignore, yet Ben still tried.

"You haven't seemed like yourself lately," Uncle Luke said, continuing to analyze his features. "I thought there might be something you wanted to tell me."

Ben barely thought about his answer. "No, not that I can think of." He said shaking his head. He even looked into his uncle's eyes to make his lie a little more convincing. Besides, he knew he couldn't tell him even if he had wanted to. It would be the academy all of over again, and as soon as he confessed, his uncle would be digging around his mind faster than a par sec.

"Well, if you ever change your mind, you know I'm here for you. I may be your teacher, but I'm also your family, and whatever you're going through, you shouldn't have to go through it alone. Remember that Ben."

Ben gave no answer but a slight tight-lipped smile. His uncle always made him cringe inside whenever he got into these sentimental moods. The only way to ward him off was with a smile.

Seeing his nephew's reaction, Luke laughed and knocked him on the shoulder. "Good, now that we have that settled, we can worry about Lethena. Kivron says he has a few deals to make that will take most of the week to settle, before we head back to Thavia. I too have some deals to settle,but they shouldn't take nearly so long to settle, which means, if we're lucky, we'll have some well deserved vacation time." He said with a wink.

What Uncle Luke had considered vacation time, had turned out to actually be more training, except without their usual class size. It had taken Uncle Luke only a couple of days to go about whatever mysterious business he had alluded to on the ship, and during that time, that was the closest Ben would get to a vacation. He had spent the days wandering around the metropolitan city, mostly exploring libraries, and small pocketed museums scattered about the area. Even then it was not much of a vacation, but simply more of a time to be alone.

During those days, the dreams had subsided. Ben's mind was at peace once more. Then on the third night, after a long day of combat training and mediation in their apartment, the dreams started again. This time they were more real than ever.

There was screaming, there was always screaming, but this time it was louder, more pronounced. Two voices intertwined to make one cry until there was just the one, a child's scream, loud and piercing. Ben looked up to see a long strap of braided leather falling through a clear, piercing blue sky. Then he stepped back to see a splatter of rusted blood on the sand beneath his feet.

Ben woke up heaving with every breath. He had caused such a racket that even Uncle Luke had heard him in other room, and came in to see what was wrong. Ben had assured him nothing was wrong, that it was only a dream, but Luke still lingered for a bit until he returned back to his own bed. Ben didn't sleep for the rest of the night. The suffocating feeling that he had first awoken with stayed with him even until the next day.

Luke had begun to watch him again, when he met him for breakfast the next morning. He seemed to drop hints and subtle questions to bait Ben into telling him exactly what the dream had been about. Ben said nothing though, just nodded, and gave the bare minimum answer wise. It wasn't until about four in the evening when he finally spoke up.

"I think we should go back to Thavia." Ben said suddenly interrupting one of Uncle Luke's stories as they were walking back to the apartment from the market that evening.

Luke stopped in his tracks. "Why?"

"Something's not right, I can feel it."

"Does this have something to do with your dream last night." Luke asked, his voice almost interrogating.

"Yes...I don't know. I just feel like something's went wrong; I can't explain it Uncle. We have to go back."

Luke nodded. "I see. I've felt something strange stirring last night as well. Let me talk to Kivron and see how soon he can tie things up."

He began to turn away, "Go back to the apartment; I'll meet you there when I have an answer.

Luke had come back later than Ben expected. Talking to Kivron had turned out to be more of challenge than expected, and the merchant had curtly refused to return to go back to the wasteland for at least another three days. Luke asked Ben to be patient, that they would figure this out, and that three days would not be so long after all.

That night Ben dreamed another dream. This time he saw nothing, but felt everything. His throat was dry, and his eyes burned, as his hot skin pressed against something cold and clammy. This time he did not hear screaming, but more of a soft moaning, and crying, there was crying.

"Please," a voice begged close to him, "Please..."

This time when Ben awoke heaving in the middle of the night, it was settled: they were going to Thavia, and by dawn that morning, master and padawan were settled in the cargo pit of an even smaller merchant freighter than before, flying to whatever lay await in the forsaken desert.

When they landed in Thavia, Ben didn't know exactly what to expect. Everything seemed as desolate as before, perhaps quieter, but still he felt an unnerving weight about him.

Their trek through the desert didn't take as long this time, for there was no storm to blow them back. They had marched past the market with the same stares watching after them. Ben's pace matched his uncle's this time, almost walking ahead of him, in order to get to the door with the painted flowers.

When they finally arrived at the door with the puffy pink flowers, Ben stood aside to let his uncle knock at the door.

There was no answer.

Another knock. Still nothing, but an eerie silence and the whistle of the desert wind.

Luke and Ben exchanged looks before Luke decidedly opened the door.

The door swung open almost effortlessly to reveal almost the exact room they had visited just days ago, minus one petrified woman and child.

Uncle Luke began to call out to make sure. "Alesandre? Rey?"

Again there was silence. They stepped over the threshold to begin to search. Truly nothing had looked like it had changed: the table they had sat at was still standing with it's chairs, the walls were still covered with child's art, and the goofy, straw doll was still sitting in the corner on one of the lumpy pillows.

Luke called out again. "Alesandre? Rey?"

Ben checked behind the wood curtain for a hiding child.

"You won't find her," a voice called from the doorway.

Ben snapped to where the noise had come from. Another frail woman stood in the doorway, blocking out the light. For a moment, Ben thought it was Alesandre by her figure, but the voice was all wrong; it was too dry, too cracked, too sure of itself.

"What happened to her?" Luke asked turning to the stranger.

The woman gave a little sniff. " She's gone. Beaten to death like a dog for stealing. She died just last night actually, and we buried her when the sun came up."

There was a moment of silence. Ben couldn't see his uncle's face, but if he thought it looked anything like his, it would have been washed in pure shock.

"Are you sure?" Luke finally asked.

The woman crossed her arms stiffly. Ben began to see that she was a bit older than Alesandre, for her skin was like folded, burnt leather.

"I should know, I was one of the one's that helped bury her. I was supposed to get the girl too, but she ran off sometime in the night. It was probably for the best. We would have probably had to take her down too, without all the crying and screaming she was doing last night. I've never heard a human sound like that before in my whole life, so wild, especially for a child."

Uncle Luke stood taller at the mention of Rey, despite having been given the news of what had happened to her mother.

"Where do you think she would have run to?" He asked.

The woman sniffed again. "Don't know. Outside of town, there's nothing but the canyon, and bluffs. She could have ran there, but I doubt she'd still be alive. There's too many wild things roaming around out there, and if by some chance she was still alive, it be almost impossible to find her. The canyon is too big of a place, with far too many places for a girl her size to hide."

Luke seemed to consider the thought.

"I can find her Uncle!" Ben blurted out

Luke turned to look at him with a sort of disbelief.

"I can feel her through the Force," he explained. "I don't know how, but I feel something strange, and I think it's her."

Luke nodded. "Whatever it is, we'll have to go on it."

He turned back to the woman. " Do you have some kind of transport out here?"

She seemed taken aback. "No, only the masters have transports this far out of town."

"Damn," Luke whispered under breath. "How far is to the canyon from here then?"

"Not far actually, it can't be farther than a few kilometers. You're surely not going to walk into the canyon though are you?" The woman replied finally seeing where the man's thoughts were leading.

"I'm afraid we have no other option. Come on Ben, " Luke said beginning to rush out the door.

The woman started to call after them when they had made it outside. "This is insanity! No one makes it out of the canyon without a transport! You'll die before the sunset!"

The pair ignored the woman though, and continued to trek through the desert once more.

In truth, it really had not taken them that long to get to the canyon. It was navigating the canyon, that took the most time and stamina from them. Rocks and ridges waited for them around almost every winding turn. If it wasn't for Uncle Luke leading them through it all, Ben was sure they would have already fallen to their deaths by now.

"How much farther Ben?" Luke called out in a raspy voice. The desert was starting to wear on them.

"Not much farther, I think there's something up ahead," Ben yelled back. In truth, he really didn't know anymore. He was simply just following a blind feeling in his stomach.

They had came down another ridge when suddenly Ben froze. To his left there was a giant rock that seemed to be slightly overhanging into whatever path the canyon possessed. Something told him to stop though, to stop and kneel to see what was under the rock.

At first he saw nothing. The space was too dark compared to the bright glare of the sun they had been burning in for the past couple of hours. Then his eyes adjusted, and that's when he saw her, her and her tiny little body crunched into a fetal position against the back wall, with hazel eyes gleaming with terror.

"Uncle I found her!" Ben yelled, turning backwards to his uncle.

"Shhh, you'll wake the sand people!" Luke chastised while kneeling next to him to peer under the rock.

"Well, there you are." Luke said softly, smiling at the frightened lump.

He reached one hand towards her. "Come on, why won't you come out now? You're safe, I promise."

Rey looked at him for a moment, and then slowly unfolded herself from her position against the wall and started to crawl toward the outstretched hand. Once her tiny hand met his, Uncle Luke gave a swift pull, and she was out.

Luke pulled her up on her feet ,and she stared up at him, squinting against the sunlight.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked quietly, kneeling down to be on her level.

Rey made no sound, Ben thought she was simply going to continue to stare, but all of a sudden her little arms latched around his uncle's neck.

Luke chuckled a bit, before wrapping his arms around her, in order to pick her up.

"I think we found what we camefor." Luke told Ben, when he stood up with a heavy lump latched around his neck, and half buried in his robes.

"Let's head back before it gets too late."

"Yes, Uncle." Ben agreed, still slightly confused by what he saw walking before him.

Peering with half dead eyes over his shoulder, when Uncle Luke turned, little Rey was staring at the teenage boy following close behind them, and continued to do thus all the way back to town.

When they had at last made it back to the painted door, the sun was preparing to make it's last appearance for the day, before disappearing behind the black horizon.

"We'll rest here for a minute," Luke whispered nearly breathless from their journey, and the heavy cargo he carried .

"Open that door, but be quiet about it."

Ben obeyed, and ever so quietly, he pushed the door open.

Luke walked over to the bed to set Rey down. Her eyes were still half dead, and she could only stare at the face before her.

"Let's rest here for a moment okay?" He whispered to her.

She made no reaction.

Luke turned back to Ben. "Find us some water. There should be a pot at the corner of the building outside, to catch whatever rain they can get. That will do."

Again, Ben obeyed,too tired to argue with his master.

When he came back in with the half empty pot, Luke commanded him to put it down beside him where he knelt next to the bed.

" Now find us a cup, and a cloth, or something to wash this awful dye off her arm."

A quick search of the cupboard in the kitchen brought forth a cup, which when he handed to Luke, was used to give drink to child sitting on the bed. When Ben found a cloth in the little hole of a closet, the cup was then passed to him, and he wasted no time downing its contents.

Ben nearly collapsed into one of the chairs.

"Are we going back tonight?" He asked watching his uncle scrub at Rey's left arm.

"We'll have to. If anyone knows she's alive, there will be no way to get out of here. There, I've done all I can for now." Luke said dropping the cloth.

"Rey, is there anything you would like to take with you before we go?" He asked softly.

Rey blinked, her eyelashes long, and fluttering. She looked over her shoulder, and reached for the stupid looking doll on the pillow. Of course, Ben thought, it had to be that.

Luke smiled at her again. "Is that all?"

She gave the very slightest of nods.

"Good, we have to go now." Luke reached out to pick her up again.

"I can carry her," Ben offered. He knew even his uncle could only take so much.

Rey jumped off the bed, and held Luke's calves in a death grip, clearly not fond of the suggestion.

Luke couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "It's alright Ben. I've got her." He bent to pick up the brown lump again. "You just lead the way back to ship"

Ben nodded, and began to walk out the door, leading them on hopefully what was to be one of their last treks through the desert.

Their trip back to the ship had proven to be harder and longer than expected. Ben chose to lead them around the market to avoid the unseemly stares, and possible inquiries about the heavy load Luke was carrying. That decision though helpful, had doubled their initial travel time, and doubled the pain in Luke's arms.

When they were finally back on the ship, Ben had to give the pilot a good punch on the shoulder to wake him from his nap, and command him to head back to Lethena. When he had finally settled into his seat across the aisle from his uncle and Rey, the pair had already settled in, and were beginning to doze off together, after having taken care of more pressing needs. Rey seemed to have been firmly tucked underneath his uncle's robe.

Ben shook his head at the sight and rolled his eyes.

Luke had cracked his eyes long enough to see his nephew's look.  
"This is not the first time it's happened," Luke said shrugging and leaning his head back against the wall.

"You just have a way with children, Uncle." Ben replied, pulling at his robe and preparing his own rest.

"I suppose I do," Luke said almost dreamily with eyes closed.

Ben laughed and would have closed his own eyes, if he had not suddenly caught the look, of a familiar, pair of dark hazel eyes staring at him yet again.

Ben lifted his head and stared back, trying to give the child a look that said "What do you want?!"

She stared for awhile longer, until finally she turned to her other side, putting her back towards him.

What a strange kid, Ben thought, leaning his head back against the wall of the ship, slightly offended by such a petulant gaze.

A/N: Yay! Another chapter! :D Hopefully it was well enjoyed! I admit I'm probably going to have to write some serious fluff after this though. I usually don't write character deaths, and for good reason: I get wayyyyy too attached.!But alas we mus move on. Quick shout out to another one of my beautiful friends, Allison, who always corrects the movies for using par secs as time, when it's actually a distance! Thank you Allison! :D Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed, and if you did, then please leave a review, it literally makes my day,as I'm sure it does any other writer! Don't be a shrew, just review! ;) Oh, me, remind me not to try to make a joke again... Just have a wonderful day everyone! Thanks for reading!

-Jess


End file.
